A lot has happened to me in the last week, so I'll begin from the beginning.Last week, I spent my time working at clinics in the slums of Mumbai.This past week I spent my time working in rural India outside of Mumbai.It was quite an experience.

Half of each day in rural India was spent without water or electricity (luckily for me, these power outages were during the mornings and evenings when I needed to shower, eat and whatnot… I know that it's hard to convey tone in emails, so for those who weren't sure, that last comment was emphatically sarcastic). Additionally, every night, just when I finally was able to get to sleep in the blistering heat, an ear-piercing shrill would signal the return of electricity, waking me up and forcing me to fall asleep all over again. On the last day I was there, my friends and I forgot to pick up bottled water from the nearby city, so we were left thirsty for nearly 24 hours, because the water where we were staying was undrinkable. It was a rough week to say the least.

Still, it was a very interesting week.I got to see a lot of illnesses I wouldn't have seen otherwise, including skin infections, leptospirosis (an illness caused by spirochetes that enter through the feet when you don't wear shoes… it's pretty terrible stuff), all sorts of malaria, dengue, and typhoid. More interesting still, however, was the fact that outside of these nearly unavoidable tropical illnesses, people were relatively healthy.Most people were coming in only with mild viral infections and little else. Even in a country with over 1 billion people, it is estimated that there is a doctor for every 500 people, which is extremely impressive.Additionally, these rural doctors acted not just as physicians, but also nutritionists, psychologists, and in some instances, fashion advisors (mainly convincing farmer-types that shoes, or anything else that covered feet for that matter, were "in"). It's amazing what these docs are accomplishing with what they have.

Beyond medical work, last week I went to proper Mumbai, and saw some sites I had never seen in my seven previous trips here including temples, famous sites, and a revolving restaurant at the top floor of a hotel. One place we went to see was a revered Muslim shrine off the coast, called Haji Ali, which is only accessible at low tide when the pathway to the place isn't covered in several feet of water. While the place itself was beautiful, the pathway to the place was pretty depressing, lined with beggars missing arms, legs, and in some instances, one of each.I found out many of these people had limbs removed (by people who are the equivalent of beggar pimps, providing food, water and protection in exchange for begging for money) just so they could beg more successfully… I still cannot fathom what drives people to go to such extremes. The other places we went to weren't nearly as depressing, and by the end of the day I was back to my cheery self.

Anyways, 2 weeks down, about 7 more to go.This weekend there is a celebration in Bombay called Ganesh Chaturthi (revering Ganesh, the elephant-headed Hindu god), which is one of the biggest events of the year, so that should be fun.Next week will be spent at a relatively upscale hospital in the city, so I am not quite sure what I will get to see or do, but I'll be sure to update you all nonetheless. Take care!

-Neel